Located in Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s McNamara Terminal, this pre-boarding dining destination celebrates local food, beverage, and hospitality brands, bringing a distinctly regional identity to the traveler experience.
Challenge
Creating a welcoming dining environment within a barrier-free concourse required establishing a strong sense of place without enclosing the space from adjacent gate areas. The design also needed to accommodate complex building systems within the terminal’s unusually high ceilings.
Solution
Our design team skillfully inserted the new dining spaces into the barrier-free concourse, using the high visibility of the lighting and large structural canopy to provide a strong sense of place. Excessive ceiling heights within the concourse meant that a complex MEP system had to be designed to exhaust out through the floor of the structure. Technology was integrated throughout the space, providing iPad ordering capabilities for food/beverage purchase and delivery to the guest table location.
Outcome
The completed venue provides travelers with a destination dining experience that reflects the character of the local community while remaining closely connected to airport operations. Since opening, the locally themed food and beverage destination has become a popular gathering space within the terminal.
Inspired by Detroit’s local food and beverage culture, the venue features regional brands including Papa Joe’s and Embers Fire & Ice Lounge.
This casual pre-boarding dining experience, located in Terminal B (Gates B18- B21) at the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW), offers a casual food and beverage service area with a strong visual and cultural tie to local restaurant brands. The project promotes a strong local identity through its concession offerings, including Papa Joes and Embers Fire & Ice Lounge, which offers a menu inspired by the fresh, sustainable ingredients found in Papa Joe’s own market, and local craft beers. The furnishings feature unique seating areas, including a park-like setting with tall sculptural tree elements that house accent lighting.
The design team skillfully inserted the new dining spaces into the barrier-free concourse, seamlessly integrating it with the passenger boarding areas. While there are no walls, the high visibility of the Embers Fire and Ice LED lighting and its large structural canopy provides a strong sense of place to arriving and departing travelers. NORR’s client, Midfield Concession Enterprises, selected this location for its proximity to many arrival and departure gates.
The excessive ceiling heights within the concourse meant that a complex MEP system had to be designed to exhaust out through the floor of the structure. Technology was integrated throughout the space, providing iPad ordering capabilities for food/beverage purchase and delivery to the guest table location. The client released the project for bid to a preselected pool of general contractors under a Design, Bid, Build methodology. Since completion, travelers have embraced this local themed food venue as a destination dining experience within the busy airport environment.
